Coppola's Film The Virgin Suicides

Purity and sin are two words from Catholic Bible, also been represented in Coppola’s film The Virgin Suicides. In my perspective, the director uses the movie as a medium of communication that represents religious regulations. She is focusing on how religion has affected teenagers and what happened on them, but not to provide a solution. Viewers usually find themselves depressed and despaired after watching suicide movies. However, in The Virgin Suicides, the director sets up a teen’s point of view to console grief of both characters and audiences by having teen boy’s voiceover lead us to find out the answer. Also, I like how Coppola places a thirteen-year old girl’s suicide attempt at the beginning of the movie, and throws this question to

One impressive scene is when boys are coming to Lisbon’s chaperoned party, and they saw five pairs of pink shoes organized on the floor, and another scene is that Lisbon girls wear white dresses on homecoming party. White and pink are the two most pure and clean colors, and Coppola chooses to apply these two colors to teen girls to gain public cognition of purity. Besides the details, Sophia selected a pure character for us: Cecilia, the youngest Lisbon girl and the first one take her life. Since her first time comes out in the movie, her beautiful eyes seem to speak to audience what the definition of pure is. If I can find a flower to describe her, then it would be daisy. She is the youngest of the Lisbon girls, but she is the most mature one. She chose to suicide to get close with God. However, Suicide is a sin in Bible, and cannot go to heaven staying with God. Sofia leaves the controversy to audience, and she does not offer her perspective in the movie instead of leaving the question to audience, and make us think deeply. Cecilia is a representativeness of purity and sin, even though she only plays few minutes in the movie, but the character she plays is really impressive. I still remember when she says: “Obviously, doctor, you have never been a thirteen years old girl.” She knows everything but never shares her thoughts to any one or maybe she thinks no one understands her in Lisbon family. However, in the end of movie, all her sisters understand